DECISION TREE, 6 AM ON SUNDAY Mommy and Daddy are hungry, so we test the hypothesis that New York never sleeps. We need connectivity, but Starbucks is napping until 7 AM. We try Joe, Jr, at 167 Third Avenue. I take half a minute to order breakfast; Mrs. Davis takes several minutes amending my order, then equal time for hers. In a gesture of male solidarity, the proprietor offers me the toast from Alice’s order. Before she can say ‘No,’ I say ‘Yes.’ There is no Wi-Fi at this traditional NY establishment, adorned by a No Smoking sign squeezed between Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Infant of Prague. The staffers are both tall around the waist. Never eat where the staffers are emaciated. The counter conversation, in English and Spanish, is about baseball, and especially the use of Japanese players in the major leagues. This is a two team town, where subway Series are not unheard of. Baseball is a topical topic. As the baseball fan departs, the proprietor gives him a bag with something for the wife. ‘Nothing for the cat?’ ‘We’re not allowed to have pets.’ Pets are a topic of conversation here; they distinguish the upper classes from the sweating masses. Pets are banned in my place on Tudor City Place, but that’s what you get when you buy units for less than a million bucks. There is a lull in the proceedings. I try 93.9 FM, WNYC. Spanish paprika is on their agenda. Sigh. I am getting advice on better nutrition from across the table, and now over the airwaves. Is there no escape? Mrs. D. proffers a hundred dollar bill, which the proprietor takes unblinkingly. There is differentiation here. The all male staffers are familiar with the men, polite and even gallant towards the ladies. Today is free time. We must decide between 10 AM mass at the close Church of the Epiphany or the more distant and more student Catholic Center at NYU, downtown. I will leave the choice to Matthew. After church, one option is a park converted from an overhead stretch of railway. New York is ingenious at never leaving a square inch of space unused. It is getting towards 7, and we move towards Wifi at Starbucks, where the corporate lawyers congregate. Two eateries, separated by a block, worlds apart.
Posted on: Sun, 22 Jun 2014 11:05:59 +0000
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